Compilation of all the onscreen and offsceen voiceover footage featuring Tim Curry from the 1980 rock musical Times Square. Curry plays NYC radio DJ Johnny LaGuardia, a cynical provocateur with an inexplicable accent who broadcasts from a penthouse broadcast booth/recording suite overlooking Times Square that apparently lets anybody on the street, no matter how angry or crazy they act, walk right into the studio. The BetaGems channel also has "Richard O'Brien Nov. 1995 late night TV performance & Intvw," "Tim Curry Rock on the Block 2-19-89 TV performance," "Tim Curry TV interview Feb. 1988 Pass the Ammo promo with Annie Potts," and "Rocky Horror 10th Anniversary late night TV special 1985."
BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on KZfaq or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.
In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.